Assig



(NoModeL) A. J MOXHAM. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

V RAIL FOR STREET GAR TRACKS. No. 289,355. r Patented Nov. 27, 18-83.

JmQww. A

(No Model.)

A MOXHAM f Sheets--S]nee n 2.

' RAIL FOR STREET 'GAR'TRAOKS'. No. 289,355, Patented Nov; 27, 18183.

u. PETERS Huh-War. Wmdmm, D. c

Un te 3n STATES.

Parent ARTHUR- ,J. MOXI-IAM, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO THE JOHN- SON STEEL STREET RAIL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAIL FOR STREET-CAR TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,355, dated November 27, 1883.

Application filed July 25, 1393. (No model.)

To all uf/wnt it nutyemtccr/t Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. Moxrnxn, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jeffen son and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rails for Streetflar or Train-Oar Tracks, which invention or improvement is fully set forth and illustrated in the following specification and ac companying drawings.

The objectof' this invention is to obtain a railof light and cheap construction, and at the same time to be efficient for all the purposes demanded of a street-rail. tions of parts for such purposes can be better secured by rolling a rail proper with a head formed for the wear of the tread of the wheels on either side, and suitably bracing said head by flanged supports bolted to the rail and breaking joints therewith when laid in track. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a cross-section of the rail as laid in track when not used as a double-flanged rail. Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the rail when used as a continuous girder, the fish-bar under the flange of the rail on the right in Fig. 1 being omitted. Fig. 3shows'the rail in longitudinal elevation on the left of Fig. 1. Fig.

4. shows the rail in longitudinal elevation on" theleft of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows the rail in longitudinal elevation on the right of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4., and 5 are upon a reduced scale.

In the said figures, the letter A indicates a.

section of the rail proper as turned out of the rolling-mill; B, a section of a splice-bar and brace; G, a fish-plate orsplice-bar; D, the fishbolts. The letter It indicates the head of the rail, f its upper flange, 10 its web, and Kits lower flanges or foot. The brace B has a flange, g, prolonged opposite the flange f, and a foot, L, bearing upon the foot K of the rail. Its head h supports the head it of the rail, and said brace is filleted at both head and foot, as seen at d. The rail as thus constructed presents in a cross-sectional view a double web, 10 w, which, when the rail is used as a double flanged rail, as hereinafter explained, does not coincide with the center line of the rail.

The advantages of this form of rail and the method of using and laying the same in track will now be explained.

Thebraces B aroused either as short bars,

The best prop0r lapping for a moderate distance only the railoints, or as continuous bars of about equal lengths with the rails, but breaking joints are new; in the second manner when the head of the rail on one side, as at 7', has become worn out or too thin for service, or when, as is sometimes the case, the flange f has given way before the head at 3'. Which part of the railthe head or the upper flangewill wear thin first depends entirely upon circumstances. \Vhere the street traffic is very light and the passenger traffic of the street-car line very good, as in the more fashionable quarters of a large city, the head always goes first, whereas where the street-car traffic is unusually heavy, as in cities in or near which iron or steel is a staple of manufacture or the quarrying of stone an important industry, the flange of the rail traversed by heavy loads of such materials generally wears first. "This form of rail offers equal economy in either case, as it is susceptible of being used on either side when turned or reversed, as hereinafter explained. the rail is rolled, therefore, its head, though comparatively very light, is, by means of the peculiar shape of the braces B, so well supported that the saving in metal is considerable, and cost of construction thereby cheapened. I

When 7 3 ..therewithin the first manner when the rails 5 exactly alike in curve, and the under side of said head is made perfectly straight, so that close contact is made between it and the upper side, it, of the splice-bar or brace B, which thus firmly supports the head 71, the upper fillet, d, insuring a proper bearing a nd contact under the head hat the point (Z. It will thus be observed that first cost is greatly lessened by making each rail with head so light that it requires to be braced at every joint, asshown in Figs. 3 and XV ere the necessary metal put in the head ofeach railthroughout its whole length, much more total weight of metal would be required in the rolled rail, as indicated by the dotted line a: .r, the flange being then discarded.

It is usually the case that a rail of the light design of head adapted for the lightest traffic is not adapted for the heaviest traffic, not altogether from the absolute wear of the head,

but also from lack of stiffness and stability. Even in heavy streetcar traffic the wear of head is comparatively slow; but when the upper part of the head has been worn to a moderate extent the rail lacks stability and power of resisting the torsional strain put upon it by vehicles engaged in street traffic. In this rail by reducing thelength, and therefore in.- creasing the number of brace-points, the same general light construction that is adapted to light traffic can be used for the heaviest traffic. In other words, the strength and stiffness of the rail can be increased by increasing the number of braces in direct proportion to the increase of strength needed for the rail; and not only can this be done as an entirety, as when comparing-the light traffic of one city with the heavy traffic of another, but .it also can be done in one part of a line where the traffic is heaviest, omitting it in another part where the traffic is lighter. Furthermore, the

brace can, if desired, and frequently with longation of the flange serving, as it does, as

a pocket for the material composing the roadbed, said flange is firmly supported thereby; and thus, itself being strongly braced, it affords a stable foundation for the head it of the rail'A. The flange 9, also, like the flangef serves as a step or starting-point for the wheels of street-vehicles in crossing the track, and thus saves the head it (the weakest point) from considerable wear from such source.

WVhen either the head of the rail at the side j or the flange f is worn from long service,

as above explained, the rail is turned in the track, or reversed, and the fish-plates 0 dispensed with. Long and continuous braces 13, Fig. 4, are substituted for the shorter ones B, Fig. 3, and thus the wear of the tread of the ear-wheels is taken upon the side j of the head h, the flange g, in place of the flange f, at the same time taking the wear of the street traffic. An equal length of life of rail is thus secured upon its said side. The rail is thus converted into a double-flanged girder T-rail, having all the advantages of a rail of such an initial construction at a much cheaper cost, for it willbe much cheaper to secure a new lease of life by the addition of the braces 13 throughout the whole length of rail, as above explained, than to put in a new rail. The fislrbars 0 having been omitted, bolts are insertedsay about thirty to thirty-six inches apart-throughout each rail and brace, firmly bolting the two together in holes oval in shape, or elongated sufficiently to allow for the necessary shrinkage and expansion, as shown in Fig. 4. In addition to the above advantages of this method of construction, there is the further advantage of obtaining wider flanges on either side of the rail than if it were attempted toform said flanges by rolling both of them direct in one piece with the head, web, and foot of the rail.

I am aware that the practice of merely turning a rail in track, so as first to wear out one side of its head and afterward utilize the other side of the head for the tread of the wheels, is not new.

As of my invention, I elai1n 1. A rail for streetcar or tram-car tracks, having head, flange, web, and foot substantially of the shape and relative proportions described, and adapted, by its lightness and the shape of the under part of its head, to be fish-jointed and braced when new, and to be fish-jointed, braced, reflanged, and reversed when worn on flange or side of head, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A rail for streetcar or tram-car tracks, composed of a head, flange, web, and foot, substantially of the shape and relative proportions described, all in one piece, united to a flanged side bar or brace substantially of the crosssection described, whereby a girder-rail is ob tained of cheaper construction and having a wider flange than if rolled all in one piece, substantially as set forth.

3. A rail for street-ear or tram-car tracks,

- composed of a head, web, foot, and flange on one side, substantially of the shape and relative proportion described, all in one piece. united to a similar rail by means of a flanged bar or brace on the side opposite the flange of each rail, bolted through the webs of said rails to a fish-bar under said flanges, whereby the heads and flanges of said rails are supported and the rails fished and braced, substantially as set forth.

A. J. MOXHAM. Vitnesses:

FRANK A. MEAD,

RoLLIN E. BEERS. 

